It is known to impregnate or coat cloth, paper, or other sheet material with a tacky adhesive, and to applying the impregnated or coated sheet material to a garment from which it is desired to remove lint or hair. Illustrative U.S. Pat. Nos. include 1,468,380, 3,682,690, 4,557,011, 4,575,890, and 4,713,274. As described in U.S. Pat. No. 3,682,690, a roller may be coated with a tacky elastomer which is water-washable, thereby permitting the particulate matter collected by the roller to be removed by washing. U.S. Pat. Nos. 4,557,011 and 4,575,890 utilize a series of separately detachable adhesive sheets which are supported on a roller for applying to the garment. After the outer sheet on the roll has picked up the lint or hair, it then must be removed, exposing a fresh sheet.
U.S. Pat. No. 4,713,274 describes a pad having a plurality of removable sheets which are coated with an adhesive material for use in collecting particulate matter. U.S. Pat. No. 4,820,558 describes an envelope formed from plastic sheets having the outer surfaces of the sheets coated with an adhesive material suitable for collecting particulate matter. A hand may be inserted within the pocket formed by the sheets for applying the device.
As far as is known, no one has heretofore proposed the use of an aerosol adhesive spray for removing particulate matter. U.S. Pat. No. 2,759,860 describes a lint removing process in which a liquid composition is applied to the bristles of a brush or whisk broom. The brush or whisk broom after coating with the composition is brushed over the surface of the garment.
Aerosol adhesive formulations are known. In general, they consist of a film-forming resin, a tackifier or plasticizer therefor, and an aerosol propellant in which the resin is soluble or readily dispersible. On application to sheet material, such as the backs of photographs, the spray forms a tacky, adherent coating. Such formulations include acrylic polymers such as the methacrylate polymers employed with volatile aerosol propellants as disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 3,305,510. As there described, the alkyl acrylate polymer may be modified so that it is water-washable to facilitate removal of misapplied spray. The patent indicates that dimethyl ether can function both as a propellant and solvent for acrylate polymers. U.S. Pat. No. 3,400,095 describes an aerosol-packaged spray adhesive formulated from an elastomeric polymer together with a tackifier resin. The spray composition is intended to form a tacky coating.